Researchers Document Deepest Known Whale Graveyard in Indian Ocean

Researchers have documented a whale graveyard spanning the largest known area and located at the greatest recorded depth in the southeastern Indian Ocean. The site contains five carcass locations and fossils, including skulls from beaked and baleen whales.

The oldest bones date to 5.3 million years ago. Marine organisms including jellyfish, tubeworms, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, squat lobsters, and saltwater clams were observed living on or near the remains.

Researchers conducted multiple deep-sea submersible dives in 2023 to collect samples and map the site. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature. A biologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering said a whale’s size and bone chemistry enable these underwater communities to form.

The same biologist noted that the deep ocean environment makes such sites difficult to locate.

Study authors stated that the bones are dense enough to resist bone-eating worms and lie deep enough to avoid burial by sediment. A light coating of minerals from seawater may have further slowed degradation. The V-shaped seafloor topography may have concentrated the remains in one area.

The study co-author from the University of Pisa said examining these sites helps scientists understand how life adapts to extreme pressure, darkness, and low oxygen. A paleontologist at the Calvert Marine Museum who was not involved in the research described the potential number of specimens as astounding.

Many of the organisms found are likely species never previously documented.